Former Professor Charged with Assault for Allegedly Beating Trump Supporter with Bike Lock

A former California-area professor has been charged with assault for allegedly bashing a Trump supporter in the head with a bike lock in April.

Eric Clanton, formerly a professor at Diablo Valley College, has been charged with assault for an April incident in which he allegedly bashed a Trump supporter over the head with a bike lock. The victim’s head was left bloodied and wrapped in bandages.

Clanton, however, disputes the charges. “I’m currently facing years of prison time as the result of accusations made in the most shockingly hateful parts of the internet. On April 19th I began being targeted by a dedicated swarm of internet trolls known for spewing racism, xenophobia, and misogyny onto the web,” Glanton wrote in an online blog post, apparently blaming 4chan users for his arrest.

Although Clanton insists that his charges have been levied unfairly, he has not specifically denied that he is the masked individual behind the bike lock assault. This is “just one example of the police doing everything in their power to facilitate and to legitimize the violence and the rhetoric of the so-called alt-right,” Glanton argued.

“Dealing with an unintelligible internet force smearing and threatening me online was not easy, and created stress to say the least, but I had every expectation that very few people would take them seriously, especially considering the character and credibility of their sources,” he wrote in his blog post.

In May, police searched Clanton’s home in San Leandro, leading to his arrest in Oakland, where he was taken into custody. He has been charged with four counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon, with the special allegation of causing great bodily injury to one of his alleged victims. To the charges, Glanton pled not guilty. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 28.